


Prodigal Brother

by Raine_Wynd



Series: PPDC Photo Album [9]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Brothers, Gen, Post-Operation Pitfall (Pacific Rim), snapshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:20:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17250764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raine_Wynd/pseuds/Raine_Wynd
Summary: Scott shows up after Operation Pitfall.





	Prodigal Brother

Three days after the Breach was closed, an almost unrecognizable Scott Hansen showed up at the gate to the Hong Kong Shatterdome. His hair, which was naturally more brown than red, had been dyed brown so no trace of red showed. He’d even dyed his beard and mustache to match. Security naturally called Herc to verify – and to request permission to let him through.

Herc sighed and met his brother in the lobby. “You trying to blend in?” he asked, shocked at his brother’s appearance. Scott had been the more weight-training-inclined; he’d bulked up. Now, he was more like a runner than a weight lifter: still in shape, but not bursting out of his clothes like the Terminator. He was dressed in worn hiking boots, jeans, and a three-quarter sleeve t-shirt that advertised a well-known Japanese beer. A diamond stud gleamed in one ear. A backpack, stuffed full, hung from one shoulder.

Scott shrugged wryly. “Thought it was better if no one recognized me.” He took a deep breath. “You, uh, gonna let me in so we can at least talk in private?”

Herc closed his eyes briefly. “This isn’t all access pass,” he said. “We’re just going to the conference room behind me.”

Scott shifted his backpack more firmly on his back. “That’s all I need for now.”

Herc nodded to the PPDC security officer in the lobby. “Standard guest protocol, please.”

“Aw, Herc, you aren’t going to make me go through a fucking security screening?” Scott looked at his brother with betrayed eyes.

“Yeah, I am,” Herc replied. “Because I don’t know where you’ve been lately.”

Scott sighed, but submitted to the security screening, which involved him producing his passport and driver’s license to the uniformed officer, who scanned both into a computer on the reception station and allowing the officer to scan him for weapons and any hidden recording devices. The security officer asked him to surrender his phone as well. His backpack was searched as well.

The receptionist looked at Scott, then at her computer, and her smile tightened slightly before she conferred with the security officer in rapid-fire Mandarin Chinese. Finally, she tapped a few keys on her keyboard and produced a laminated guest badge. Standing, she pulled off a plastic cover on the raised desk in front of her computer, revealing a built-in display. “Please sign in on the highlighted line,” she directed Scott in Chinese-accented English, and handed him a stylus.

He took the stylus and signed the electronic logbook. She exchanged the stylus for the freshly-produced badge. “Your identification and phone will be returned when you bring this back. Welcome to the Shatterdome, Mr. Hansen.”

Scott grimaced but clipped the badge to his belt. The standard guest access wouldn’t stop his brother if he was so inclined, but he hoped Scott had learned something in the years since he’d walked out of the Shatterdome in disgrace. Herc led the way to the small conference room just off the lobby proper. The room had a sign warning visitors all activity was recorded; it was usually used for interviews.

“What do you want?” Herc asked as soon as he shut the door. “Told you the last time you came knocking, I’m not lending you any money to feed your habits.”

Scott dropped into the chair nearest the door. “Didn’t come here for that. I’m clean and sober and have been for four years. Heard the news; wanted to find out for myself what was true.”

Herc raised an eyebrow. “And what difference would it make?” he asked.

Scott eyed him. “You and me – we were always oil and water, weren’t we? Needed a third part to make us work. First it was Angela, then it was Chuck, then it was our jaeger – now, we got nothing.”

Herc raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “So why are you here, exactly?”

“Because you know damn well that Stacker Pentecost wouldn’t have let Chuck die. Not when he loved you.”

Herc met his brother’s impassioned words with a look that spoke volumes. “And?”

“And I’d like to see him.”

Herc assessed him with one long look before admitting, “Chuck’s in no shape for visitors yet. You got a place to stay and a phone I can call?”

Scott let go of the breath he had been holding. “No. I was hoping you’d let me crash in the guest quarters on account of the hotels being all full of local refugees and your desire to not want me to blab to any press.” He smiled thinly and pulled out his ace card: press credentials for Buzzfeed News Asia.

Herc barked a laugh. “Wondered how you’d managed to stay alive and out of jail.” He studied his former co-pilot a moment. He’d already spoken to his head security officer, assessing the potential for problems. “This isn’t all access pass, Scott, and it isn’t an exclusive. You’ll stay in the guest quarters tonight, under guard, and you won’t have Internet or cell phone access until tomorrow, when the official announcement is made.”

“I’ll take it,” Scott said. “And for the record, Herc: I was an asshole who didn’t know how good he had it until it was gone, and I’m sorry.”

Herc nodded stiffly and rose. He opened the door and let in a security guard. “Officer Chang will escort you to your room.”

Scott took the cue and followed the guard out of the room. Left alone, Herc shuddered through a sigh as he closed his eyes briefly. The next few days were going to be interesting, but at least he knew where his brother was – and that was something he had secretly hoped would be a good thing to know after all the years of thinking Scott had destroyed himself.


End file.
